In this present world order, dominant forces are seeking with all their power to shape national and international systems in accordance with their own values. Indigenous governance, leadership and JustPeace are not yet realities as indigenous people are entrenched in their ongoing struggles. Democracy, Development, Self-Governance and Good Governance that are based on inclusive participatory processes are essential in order for human creativity to be expressed, as well as catalyzing transformation that becomes the foundation for enduring societies to coexist. From an indigenous perspective, everything is interdependent and interconnected which is expressed by a peoples’ capacity to be self-determining. Hence, the indigenous perspective must first deconstruct the myth of the imposing dominant system that perpetuates barriers between peoples, while simultaneously seeking to generate accord amongst those who accept the same myth.
Alfred Taiaiake says that, indigenous existence cannot be realized without respecting all facets of tradition: culture, spirituality and government. The principles of leadership, governance and JustPeace, therefore, need to be understood holistically as they embrace the length and breadth of the land that defines each and every indigenous person and their nations. These are inextricably intertwined so that one cannot exist without the other. The praxis of these principles is an ongoing process which proceeds from gaining critical knowledge to imparting critical consciousness. It defines the self in both individual and collective terms. It is perhaps most important to understand them as a process of learning and understanding with the ability to adopt and adapt on its own terms. A crucial aspect of indigenous governance is its respect for independence – both individually and collectively. This begins in the individual self with its inherent freedoms, powers and responsibilities; and it is only the compelling forces of conscience that they are co-coordinated into the collective self and are essentially parts of the whole.
Since the dawn of colonization, the same questions remain as to: whether Indigenous communities are in a position to exercise genuine decision-making; have effective ownership over their land, their resources; and have efficient systems of government institutions and forms of governance that reflect and facilitate the peoples’ aspirations. The question of the right to self-definition is central in the indigenous peoples’ quest for freedom, governance and JustPeace, because unless they define who they are, the ‘powers that be’ will define it for them. States have continually and forcefully taken the prerogative to define the self and connect it with State-building processes so that it forms specific political identities needed to maintain their control.
This is consistent with the experiences of indigenous peoples’ from the Northeast region, where peoples’ identities have been usurped and subsumed by State identities. By denying the right to self-definition, their uniqueness that is found in different histories, cultures, and situations, etc., are negated, thus denying their human dignity. Consequently, the State deals with abstraction and not human persons or humanity through standardization and uniformity, thereby, failing to recognize the distinctive human qualities that exist within each culture. This underlying problem reveals an attempt to quantify and calculate human development which negates the realization that what men and women do with their lives is far more important than their possession and commodities. If development is key to indigenous peoples’ survival, it has to respect their right to self-definition.
